


Without Announcement

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Series: Walking Yggdrasil [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, body duplication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 13:37:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4139580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: 'Here are our monsters,' without immediately turning the monsters into pets.<br/>― Jacques Derrida</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without Announcement

Though there was nothing obvious to give it away, the moment Natasha Romanoff entered her quarters, she knew someone was in it. She had come from the training grounds in the New Avengers complex, and the team had gone to dinner. They wouldn't prank her, and there was no way Bruce would suddenly change his mind and return. Going silent on the Quinjet had been a very clear signal. She could have made it work; on some level, they had connected and could talk about lots of things. There was no risk that she would manipulate him into doing things he really didn't want to do, as he was just as aware of his buttons as she was. The Hulk had grown to trust her, as well.

But as he had said, Bruce trusted her. He hadn't trusted himself. He didn't _want_ to want anything or anyone.

It figured her safe choice was safe because he was so far away.

She wasn't sure who would be in her quarters, sneaking in while she was working on hand to hand with the others. She was in her nanomesh armor as a result, but didn't have her pistols or gauntlets. She had herself as a weapon, which would have to do.

Moving silently, she eased into her sitting room. Across from her, sitting patiently on her couch with an amused grin on his face, was Loki.

"Hello, Agent Romanoff. Or simply Miss Romanoff now," Loki acknowledged with a sardonic smile and a slight incline of his head.

"What do you want?"

"Not going to charm it out of me?"

"I doubt that it would work this time."

"You underestimate your charm, perhaps."

"Or you overestimate my reliance on it."

Loki laughed out loud. "Very true. But I remember how you slid your way through my defenses. I remember how well you used it to your advantage."

"Awfully chatty for a dead man."

He laughed again. "A necessary diversion."

"Was it? Thor mourned you."

"I'm sure he did," Loki replied icily, eyes narrowing at her. "What do you know of it?"

"We held a wake. It helped him grieve."

That clearly startled Loki, making him fall silent.

"Why are you here?" She rather doubted he wanted to kill her. If he had, he wouldn't have started the verbal sparring. He wanted something, but she couldn't think of what it might be.

"You have something that once was mine."

"The scepter." At Loki's nod, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "You can't have it back."

"It's not yours to give, in any event."

"It's dangerous," Natasha told him flatly. "At least right now, that stone is contained."

"Right up until the time Thanos comes to your wretched world and destroys it to get the stone."

"We'll stop him."

"You barely stopped the Chitauri. Only a fraction of their might came through the portal. The promised devastation never manifested."

"So is that it? You're on the run and want us to help you stop him? I think you overestimate Thor's concern for you."

"Do you care for him?" Loki asked, genuinely curious. "I thought you were chasing the monster." That set Natasha's teeth on edge. Bruce wasn't the kind of monster he feared he was, and Natasha knew exactly the kind of monster she was.

Loki had been right the first time they met. There was no way to undo that much red in her ledger.

Maybe she could have made it work with Bruce. He was kind and gentle, and he'd want to live off the grid. She knew there would always be indigent people to care for, nameless scores of people that needed his help and attention. It would keep him busy, and she could keep him safe. General Ross would never find him, local thugs wouldn't threaten him, and she would try her hand and huswifery. One or two of her old personae had been content with such a life, and had wanted nothing more than to be married to a successful man and care for him. If he hadn't been so scared of it, of his own potential happiness, then she could have made it work.

Or maybe he never stopped loving Betty Ross, and he was letting her down easy. Maybe he didn't trust the new self she had been trying to be, even though he'd said he did.

Oh, that thought _hurt._ It kept her ruminating on what happened and could have been.

"Did he break your heart?" Loki asked, sounding surprisingly gently and caring.

"I'd have to have a heart for that to happen."

"So cold. So manipulative. So _broken."_

"You see it in the mirror, don't you?" she asked in her same flat tone.

Loki's lips tightened infinitesimally. No flinch, no shudder, no flare of nostril. He'd gotten better at reining himself in. then again, it _had_ been three years.

"Why are you here, Loki?" she asked again.

At first, she didn't think he would answer her. But he finally rose to his feet. "Thanos searched for the stones. There are six of them, and four have manifested in recent years. As if they wish to be collected."

"To what end?"

"Power. Untold destruction."

"Of what?"

"Everything. The galaxy, the realms of Yggdrasil, the entirety of space and time and dimensions he can grasp. The stones make a mockery of higher magicks."

"So you can't hide from him," Natasha guessed.

"No one can."

"What do you think _I_ can do to help you?"

Striding forward, he didn't even react when she uncrossed her arms in anticipation of countering an attack. "You can go places, hear things and extract what is necessary. Your colleagues are infants in such endeavors."

"Thor would know the galaxy better."

"He is a fool in these matters. His so-called friends also are unlikely to do more than get themselves killed."

"And they think you're dead."

"Just so. I'd appreciate if it stays that way."

"So Thanos won't know you're alive."

"Among other creatures."

"I have responsibilities here. I have students."

"The girl and her infant's magic won't save your world."

Natasha lofted an eyebrow at Loki. "Then what makes you think I could possibly help? Spycraft isn't enough against magic and monsters."

"They are rather predictable creatures. You see patterns I do not."

How desperate was he to admit such a thing to her?

"I'm needed here."

Loki compressed his lips into a tight, unhappy line. "I can make a copy of you. More durable than a flimsy illusion as I usually cast, one that can remain behind. She will have your memories, your skills."

"Why not take the copy, then?" Natasha asked, curious.

"Copies don't travel through the secret ways along the branches and roots of Yggdrasil where Heimdall's eyes won't see. Tracking Thanos will be treacherous enough without being recognized or hunted by Asgard's warriors."

"They're not angry with me," Natasha pointed out.

"If you're in two places at once, they'll suspect my involvement. Your copy would likely tell them. So then her life is forfeit, as will mine once captured."

"Why is this my problem?"

"You'll feel it. You experience what your copy does."

"You're deliberately misunderstanding me," Natasha said, voice devoid of emotion. "Why would I even agree to help you?"

"Because as much as you want to deny it, you do care for these mortals. You'll want to do something to save them."

"Why should I believe you want to help us?"

"Because I don't," Loki retorted, irritated with her. "But I want Thanos gone. I want the threat to Asgard eliminated. Even if it's never mine, I don't want that creature to get the satisfaction of its destruction. That should be _mine."_

Natasha shrugged. Okay, that she could believe. He was selfish and volatile, but she would be able to work with that.

It possibly should have horrified her, even thinking about cooperating with Loki, but he really wasn't as good at what she did as he liked to think. She did want her world saved, she did want to atone for her past. Saving the planet a few times over surely helped tip the scales toward black, helped alleviate the horrible things she had done. Because she really didn't know when it might be over, when she might be done with this path she set herself on. It was nice to think she could leave it, she could be something other than what she was. It was nice to try being someone new, someone that wasn't haunted by the horrors of the Red Room and the myriad agencies that wound up taking its place. She could comfort others for their part in being manipulated, but she could never give herself that grace. And other than Clint and Nick Fury, no one had ever tried to absolve her of it either.

"Just to prove that I truly have no ill will toward you," Loki told her, "I'll cast the spell now."

She opened her mouth to speak, maybe tell him he had to _ask_ her first, but a shimmering gold field enveloped her. For a moment, she flashed back to the holding cell in Sokovia, where she deliberately hadn't broken herself out. It mattered to her to see who would come for her, who would want to save her. Clint wouldn't, he knew she could save herself in a heartbeat if she really wanted to. But who cared enough to dive into Ultron's lair and try to get her out?

Not that it mattered now. That entire interlude was nothing but wishful thinking now.

Gasping for air, Natasha managed to keep on her feet. She opened eyes she didn't remember closing, and immediately was hit by a wave of dizziness. Her vision blurred and shifted, and it took a moment for her to realize that not only did she feel what her copy did, she could see the same thing that she did.

Loki grasped her arm – it was definitely her, and there was a sense of absence as well along her arm, so he hadn't grabbed hold of the copy. It was such an odd sensation, almost nauseating but physically grounding as well. Her eyes had slid shut again, but she could see herself at an odd angle. Loki grasped her arm, keeping her upright, and she looked ill and pale, sweaty, as if about to vomit. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't realize it would affect you quite so hard. I'll have to..." His voice trailed off as he did something else, and then she could separate the sensations that were hers and which were her copy's. The odd sensations and visual depth also meant she was suddenly very aware of all the hiding spots for his knives in his armor. She had kept the small blade he had stabbed Thor with three years ago; she had found it when she went for the scepter, and kept it hidden in her belt buckle because the metal was light but strong, effective as an assassin's or spy's tool.

"What did you do?"

"I had to add a separate spell, used to enhance and delineate senses. You can block out what she sees, or you can incorporate her thoughts and senses into your own." Loki actually sounded apologetic again, which she found disturbing. Why did he care?

"I didn't agree to it," she said tightly.

"We will be working on this, will we not?" he asked, a charming smile on his face. "There are few choices that you have in this matter, Miss Romanoff, especially if you would like this planet to remain whole."

"Then we'll need to get one thing straight," Natasha replied, voice steadier than she felt. She spun around, shaking off his grip on her arm, and yanking his arm behind him. As she moved, she kicked at the back of his knee, sending him to his knees. At the same time, her copy rushed forward and snatched one of his daggers from the folds of leather armor and held it to his throat, ensuring he wouldn't try to shake either of them off.

Loki chuckled. "I see you adapt quickly."

"I _see_ you," she hissed, leaning down to get her lips near his ear. Loki stilled, but didn't move as she pressed herself against his back. "For all your talk of being a leader, of being the master this world needs, I see you for what you really are. You talk of ruling people, that freedom is nothing but a lie. But inside, you're the one that longs to be free of thought, to let someone else take control, give you limits and tell you not to cross them. You're the one that wants to be reined in, that wants someone to hold you down. That's part of the reason you came to me, isn't it? I can be the one that cuts you down to size when you get ahead of yourself. I can push you down when you need it."

"So full of yourself. I am a god—"

The copy of Natasha nicked his throat when he stirred, and that made him fall still. "Even gods have rules to follow," the copy said, eyes boring into his.

"And I know how to give them to you," Natasha purred, lips at his ear. She shifted her grip on his arm a little, her armored breasts dragging across his back. He couldn't possibly feel it through his armor, but he stiffened as if aware of how close she was, how she was positioned. "That's what you want, too. You want me to help you with all of this." On impulse, she nipped his ear, then breathed into it. He shivered, his breath catching, and Natasha managed to swallow down the smile she wanted to make.

Gotcha.

"You want to kneel in front of me," the copy purred. The edge of her knife scraped lightly over the skin without cutting into it.

"You want me to take control, if only for a little while," Natasha said. When she nipped his ear again, he groaned. She looked up at her copy and nodded at her, indicating she should move.

Her copy backed up, knife still in her hand. She put it aside and unzipped the front of her catsuit before Loki could speak, making him grow only too still. Natasha brought her left hand around his throat, his arm still caught in her right. She shifted position so that his head was cushioned on her breasts, an entirely different sensation than when Bruce collided with her weeks ago. "How far do we take this, Loki?" she purred, letting her nails run along the column of his throat. "How much control do you need to give up to me?"

Loki snarled and tried to buck her off, but she was anticipating that. Her copy tsk'ed at him and zipped the suit back up. "That was naughty," the copy said in mild tones as she reached forward and grasped a fistful of Loki's hair. She pushed his head back, until Natasha moved so that his throat was even more exposed.

Natasha shifted again and licked the blood at Loki's throat. He went still, so very still, hardly even breathing. "You have needs, Loki," she purred against his ear, fingers digging into the arm caught between their bodies. His free arm was flung to the side, balancing him, not trying to strike either Natasha in the slightest. "If we're going to work together, we need to establish a few ground rules. For this, and for what happens in the cosmos."

The copy's eyes flashed as she tightened her grip on his hair and stepped onto his thigh, leaning into it with her weight. "Because you _will not_ betray us, Loki. We will know, and we will find you. And you will regret it with every fiber of your being until we snuff it out."

His throat worked a little convulsively, and he growled "I still have need of you."

"And I'm going to make sure of that," the copy purred, unzipping the catsuit as she leaned over him. His eyes shot straight to the emerging cleavage, and he was disappointed by the tight camisole and bra covering her breasts.

Natasha and her copy locked amused gazes. They knew how to work with this kind of reaction, how to tie men to her using her sexuality as a weapon. This was nothing.

The copy slid out of the boots and catsuit so that she was standing there in her underwear, cami and socks. Just to draw out Loki's longing further—leather really didn't hide anything, and the copy could clearly see how aroused he was getting while watching her undress—the copy of Natasha slid off one sock, then another. Then the camisole, a shimmy and wiggle in her hips making Loki's breath hitch. Natasha licked his ear and circled her hand around his throat again, squeezing slightly. He held himself so still, even when Natasha let go of his twisted arm so she could reach down to brush her fingers across the bulge in his pants. The copy took off the bra, her eyes on Loki's rapt expression, and then underwear. She stood before him naked and proud, eyes flashing a challenge.

"What do you need, Loki?" Natasha purred into his ear. The copy was perfect, right down to the scars on her shoulder and abdomen. The scars didn't look quite right, that was the only difference between them. "Shall we fuck you? Show you how good submission can be?"

Loki shuddered in her embrace as he made a choking sound. "I will not submit. Not to you, not to anyone." He tensed, as if ready to throw both copies of her off. All right. Wrong word to use, it must be a trigger of some kind for him.

The copy lifted her leg and brought her foot to his shoulder. That opened her wide for him, and her challenging expression didn't waver. "Oh, you won't?"

"You are a lesser creature."

"Yet you're on your knees and practically begging for it," Natasha purred, rubbing his leather bound cock a little harder. "Afraid you'll like it? Afraid that you'll want more of it after our association is done?" She bit his earlobe, just hard enough to make him gasp. "Because you know it'll feel good. If I'm in control of the pleasure you feel, I'm the one that decides when you come, when you get to touch me back..."

Tilting her hips toward him a bit, the copy gave Loki a sultry smile. "Play nice, and I'll let you eat me out. Because you'd like that, wouldn't you? I can tell by how you look at me. You want me on your tongue. You want to taste me, feel how good it will be to sink your cock in me, feel the release when I let you have it."

"So sure of yourself," Loki tried to sneer, though his voice was strangled. Natasha rubbing her palm harder across his leather covered cock probably had something to do with that.

"This I know. People I know. That's what you want my help for. You can't read them accurately, can't guess what they'll do next."

"You know nothing about me," Loki snapped, but the bite was out of his voice. Token resistance.

"I know enough," the copy purred, grasping the back of his head and bringing his mouth to her center. "Take a taste. See if I'm right."

Loki didn't even resist, and licked into her with abandon. Natasha could feel that, a shivery light sensation against her own clit and folds. Desire slammed into her, making her nipples tighten with want. Her copy's nipples were already pebbled and hard. She nipped at his neck and worked on loosening his armor and vambraces as best as she could, pulling it aside without moving him so much that his mouth came away from her copy. The ghostly sensations rippled through her, and her copy made satisfied sighs of pleasure.

No longer interested in token resistance, Loki shrugged out of his armor and tunics without taking his mouth away from Natasha's copy. That made it difficult to get him out of the leather trousers, but Natasha at least unlaced them enough to brush her fingers against bare skin and crisp, curling hair. He shifted his hips, letting her fingers slip further down to brush the root of his cock, and she shoved against the tight leather to take it in hand. She rubbed her chest against his arm, which he hadn't moved at all. He certainly did like the concept of bondage and being dominated, as much as he paid lip service to ruling. _Topping from the bottom, maybe?_ she thought, lips curling into a smile against his shoulder.

Her copy came, fingers tightening and pulling at his hair. Loki didn't even make so much as a peep, but curled his tongue inside her, easing her down from the high. When she moved her leg away, it let Natasha lift him enough to get his trousers down to his knees, exposing his rigid cock, already seeping a little.

"Bed," Natasha's copy purred, crooking her finger at Loki. "I shouldn't have all the fun."

He kicked off his clothes and Natasha rose to her feet, watching him walk after her copy, heading to the bedroom. She couldn't see her copy's left hand or the dagger that she had tossed onto the coffee table, and Natasha almost wanted to laugh. It was exactly what she would have done. That truly was a copy that thought and behaved as she did.

Slipping another of Loki's daggers out of his armor, she followed them and hid the blade in the folds of her catsuit as she stepped out of it and laid it on her dresser top. Her copy had gotten Loki to lie down on her bed, limbs sprawled and eyes blown wide with desire as she fondled his balls and blew across his cock. The copy smirked at Natasha. "Want to feel that tongue for yourself? Then we'll switch off and you can ride him after."

She chuckled and got up onto the bed. "Sounds like a most excellent plan." Natasha knelt beside Loki and brushed her fingers across his wet lips. "And it sounds like one you agree with."

"I see no reason to complain yet," Loki replied, as haughty as ever. He was plotting something, of that she was sure. Maybe to see how far she would take this. Maybe thinking she would be pliant if they were in bed together.

But he grasped her waist and helped her balance over his mouth, and licked into her with enthusiasm. Her copy took his cock into her mouth, making him moan a little, then mounted him after a few minutes of preparation. Her copy rode him hard, and the sensation of fullness inside of her plus Loki's tongue at her clit easily got Natasha going. Her orgasm must have been shared with her copy, because her rhythm stuttered and she threw her head back, gasping. "Here, you take a turn," her copy said, smirking. They switched places, but instead of climbing over Loki's face, her copy sprawled out beside him, teasing his nipples with her fingers and talking so dirty in his ear that Loki flushed. Natasha laughed at his response as she slid down over his waiting cock, then was surprised when he reached down to touch her hip. His other hand was at her copy's shoulder, the touch delicate and almost reverent.

"Never fucked a woman and her copy before, have you?" she guessed, lips twisting into a sly smile. Natasha squeezed her inner muscles, making him groan. Then he tilted his hips up, thrusting back into her, no longer as passive a participant.

"There is time for all things," he growled, then shifted the hand at her hip so he could rub her clit and bring her off faster. Considerate, though hardly necessary.

After she came, Loki grasped Natasha to pull her down on top of him and rolled over so that he was on top of her. Her copy looked on in amusement, then ran her hand down Loki's spine until she cupped his ass in her hands. He fucked into her, the expression on his face one of complete concentration. Even more surprising was that after he came, he kissed her.

"What was that for?" Natasha's copy asked, frowning as she knelt beside her.

"Because clearly you've agreed to this bargain." Loki disentangled himself from Natasha, breathing heavily and watching the two of them closely. "You wouldn't offer yourself to me unless you did. You wouldn't think this would control me otherwise."

"Is it control?" her copy asked, a sultry note to her voice. She got down from the bed and then brushed her hands along his arms in a caress, circling him. "Or just a mutual benefit?"

Loki watched as Natasha left the bed to stand on the other side of him, near her dresser. He grasped her by the throat, lifting her off of her feet so that they were at eye level. "You cannot control me. Don't even think you can try."

Natasha brought his dagger to his chest, poised over where his heart would be if he was human. At the same time, her copy grabbed his hair and yanked back hard as she stomped on the side of his knee, hard enough to dislocate the patella. He squeezed harder on Natasha's throat as he fell with a cry of pain, and she kept her knife steady. Her heart pounded, adrenaline sharpening everything. She had maybe two minutes before she passed out.

"I suggest you let go," her copy hissed into his ear. "Two of us, one of you, and you still have a plan you didn't discuss with us."

He let go only when Natasha pressed the tip of his blade harder into his skin, reminding him that she was far from helpless.

"So this is what you're capable of," he said, watching her massage her throat with the hand not holding the knife.

Natasha smiled at him, a chilling and calculated one. "You haven't seen what I'm capable of yet."

"No wonder your archer held you in such high regard."

She let the tip of the dagger slice through his skin as she pulled it away from his chest. "And don't think I've forgotten that. You owe him quite a bit."

Loki licked his lips, eyes alight with amusement as his lips stretched back into a sickly, almost manic grin. "I'm aware of what this realm thinks I owe them."

Natasha's copy dragged her fingers over the shallow cut, smearing his blood across his skin, then licked her fingers suggestively. "Don't worry. We'll keep the accounting for you."

"Your ledger. Dripping red."

"Gushing, you said," Natasha agreed. "And yours is a deluge."

"It can't be wiped out," Loki scoffed.

Natasha and her copy watched with grim satisfaction as he struggled to his feet, favoring his injured leg. She suppressed the urge to high five her copy, though she likely had the feeling flooding her, too.

"It can," she told him flatly. "And you will. I'll make sure of it. Isn't that why you came to me in the first place? Clint would kill you. Others would lock you up. But me? You knew full well that I would make you work for it. You have to earn your absolution."

"Because we're both monsters, aren't we?" Loki asked, amusement in his tone.

Yes, she was. But that didn't bother her in this moment, not as it had when she had been alone with Bruce, hoping he would deny it. He had seen her that way, too. He had agreed with her, which had stung more than she had wanted to admit. Of anyone, she had hoped he would see her differently, see past the monstrosity her makers had created.

So be it. If that was all she was, then she would use it to save this world from the true monsters that would seek to destroy it.

Both Natashas gave him a feral smile and pushed him backward onto her bed. "Yes, I am," she replied coldly. "And don't you forget it."

If she couldn't, no one else would, either. So she might as well make it count.

The End


End file.
